Potere, who had been at the global giant’s Los Angeles office for about two years, asked if he could continue working within the firm’s litigation department until his course started in the autumn. Dentons, the world’s largest law firm by headcount, rejected his request and said he would have to clear his desk on 1 June.

Michael Potere

Again according to the affidavit linked above and embedded below, Potere allegedly went ahead and accessed a partner’s email account and downloaded “confidential and sensitive documents”. The young associate, who completed a masters at the London School of Economics in 2008, had been given access to the account last year as part of a deal the pair were working on.

Astonishingly, the junior associate then apparently “demanded” around £160,000 and (as if this story wasn’t already bizarre enough) a piece of artwork on display near his office.

The affidavit claims the 32-year-old then said he would send the sensitive information over to legal blog Above The Law — a bit like a US version of Legal Cheek — if the partners didn’t play ball.

Potere, who is no longer at the firm, was arrested by FBI agents last week and charged with extortion. In a statement released by Dentons, the firm said:

Dentons understands that Michael Potere, formerly an associate in our Los Angeles office, is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. We are cooperating with law enforcement and, as we do at all times, we have taken appropriate and necessary steps to protect the safety of our employees, the confidentiality of our clients, and the property of our firm.

7 Comments

Lol

“Above The Law — a bit like a US version of Legal Cheek ” yeah alright then hahahaha

(37)(1)

Anonymous

Jun 30 2017 11:48am

That’s exactly what I thought! Hahahahahahaha

It seems Somebody forgot their pills today. 😂😂😂

(3)(0)

Anonymous

Jun 30 2017 11:48am

Top bantz

(1)(0)

Anonymous

Jun 30 2017 1:19pm

Lifted from ROF, of course…

(5)(0)

Anonymous

Jun 30 2017 2:18pm

So basically Denton’s LA Office Managing Partner has been privately commenting on fellow attorneys (likely about the female attorneys if Potere isn’t part of the class), but that’s all likely to be buried now.